GI-ESCR and partners contribute to the CEDAW General Recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls | Written Submission

On 24 June 2021, GI-ESCR, jointly with El Observatorio Ciudadano and ProDESC, submitted a joint written contribution to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), at the general discussion the Committee organised to launch the debate and receive input for a new general recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls, aiming to advance women's rights and achieve substantive gender equality. GI-ESCR and partners’ written contribution aimed to inform the discussion on the effective participation, consultation and consent of indigenous women and girls in the context of the energy transition.

The event organised by the CEDAW Committee gathered UN entities, human rights institutions, civil society organisations, academics and other interested stakeholders to reflect on the key elements that this essential legal tool should consider.

The three partners, namely GI-ESCR, El Observatorio Ciudadano, and ProDESC, made a joint submission as they work in Chile and Mexico, two of the countries in the Latin American region where indigenous women and girls have been most affected by energy transition policies and frameworks that do not respect their rights to land, natural resources and full and effective participation in decision-making.

The written submission aims to highlight the crucial importance of the effective participation, consultation, and consent of indigenous women and girls in climate change mitigation measures and strategies, and how failure to do so disproportionately affects their rights under the CEDAW Convention. The contribution also underscores that indigenous women and girls are key agents of social change, possessing traditional knowledge and expertise on energy resource management in their homes and communities. Their views and perspectives are thus essential to transform the basis of existing inequalities and to combat extractive and other harmful practices in the production, distribution, and use of renewable energy.

The green revolution represents a unique opportunity to bridge the gaps of legal protection for indigenous women and girls, valuing their traditional knowledge and the role that they play as key agents of social change and in the preservation of natural resources and local ecosystems.

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Learn more about the day of general discussion and the process leading to a new General Recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls here!

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women’s economic, social and cultural rights